Monday, April 30, 2012

It is such a beautiful day I wanted to sit outside and read enjoy the fresh air and watch the Hummingbirds go from one feeder to the other. To be honest I also had some housework to do but that just isn't very exciting.

I had a craving for Chinese food and looked to see what was in the fridge and pantry since I didn't want to drive to town to go to the market or get take out.

In our little town we don't have a lot of options for Asian food. We do have a Thai restaurant that is very good, a Sushi restaurant that is okay, Panda Express and a nasty Chinese Buffet. That's it!

I know this is not a traditional Asian dish but I did my best coming up with the recipe and it is very tasty and easy to pull together and most of the items you might already have on hand.

Honey Ginger Chicken

4 large bonless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

1/3 cup honey

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon shallots, finely minced

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more or less to your taste)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons ginger, grated

3 tablespoons peanut oil, divided

salt and pepper

Cut chicken into bite size pieces approximately one inch, salt and pepper, set aside.

In a bowl or 8oz mason jar add honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, shallots, red pepper flakes, garlic and ginger. Mix together well. It is best to let the sauce sit for at least one hour so flavors can marry.

Heat half the oil in a skillet on a medium high heat cooking chicken in small batches for about 5 to 8 minutes remove from heat repeat until all of the chicken has been cooked.

Add the remaining oil and heat on high. Add chicken back into skillet and pour sauce over chicken and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Serve over rice. Note: Sliced bell peppers, mushrooms, green onions can be sauteed and added to this dish along with any other veggies you have on hand.

Onion and Garlic Steamed Rice

3 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup rice, rinsed and drained

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon salt

Saute' butter and onion in saucepan for 5 minutes. Add rice and garlic stir for 3 minutes add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 11 minutes. Remove from heat uncover place a clean dish towel over saucepan and replace lid. Let sit for 8 minutes, fluff rice with fork. Place towel and lid back on saucepan for another 8 minutes.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

We will be baking/cooking through Joy Wilson's cookbook "Joy The Baker" one week at a time.

It's never to late to join the fun we are just getting started. Visit us over at Sunday's With Joy Facebook Page and sign up. All you need is Joy's cookbook which is available at Amazon pick up the book or download to your device. You can also visit Joy Wilson and see what she is baking up next.

Week 1

Oatmeal Raspberry Ginger Scones

The scones were very easy to make and very good. I might add a touch more sugar since I like my scones a bit on the sweeter side if I'm not going to use jam on them. With the scones being so moist and with the fruit I didn't feel they needed jam. Just a hot cup of coffee or tea.

I have struggled with deciding if I should post the recipe or not. At first my post did not include the recipe and then I added the recipe. Here I am again editing this post again. I have decided not to include the recipes from the Joy The Baker cookbook. She worked hard on putting together a cookbook and getting it published and I think if people are interested in her recipes based on my post they should buy the cookbook.

My weekly "Sunday's with Joy" post will include my review and photo of the week's recipe.

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Saturday, April 28, 2012

I was working on my blog today trying to get a few days ahead. I will let days go by without posting if I do not have a plan.

My husband loves cheese and I found this Cheddar Chili Pepper cheese and he said it was good but it was just a bit too hot. Right there that surprised me this man loves heat.

First thought was to use it with regular cheddar cheese and make nachos. (I think I will still do that) We were having corn on the cob so I decided to use the cheese in the butter and came up with this recipe. It is so tasty and not hot at all. Besides having it on my corn I had it on my biscuit too.

Spicy Cheese Lime Butter

1 stick of butter, softened

zest from one lime

juice from half a lime

1/3 cup of spicy cheese, grated

(i.e. pepper jack, cheddar with chili peppers)

Mix above ingredients together, place on plastic wrap and foil. Roll plastic wrap around butter then foil, roll around until you get a log shape. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or more before serving, so flavors can marry.

Taste great on corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, biscuits and cornbread

Until Next Time,

Pam

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Friday, April 27, 2012

One thing I wished I would have done before I moved was to take photography classes. They were readily available to me. We have a local college but they do not offer classes to the public and the next option is driving 43 miles one way, not an option.

I will be learning on my own with the help of what I find online. I am going to dedicate each Friday as "Photo Friday" and post photographs I have taken throughout the week.

If you have any suggestions on any of my photographs on what I should have done please post them it will only help my photography get better.

I use a Nikon D80 and the photographs I am posting today were all used with the Nikon AF NIKKOR 50mm lens.

Olive

Sunset

Juniper Berries

My Best Friend during the summer

Pine Needles

Tool Box

Target

Until Next Time,

Pam

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Sunday, April 22, 2012

Can I get a show of hands on those of you have a Pinterest account, now can I get a show of hands of those of you who "pin" recipes, one last time, a show of hands those of you that have not made any or just a few of those recipes. I am one of those pinners who has made one maybe two recipes of the many recipes I have pinned on my online cookbook. Well all that is going to change I am going to make at least one recipe a week from my Pinterest.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the 3 McCormick packets, oil, vinegar and paprika and whisk together. Add pork, toss to well coat and place plastic wrap over bowl and let sit for 30 minutes.

In a heavy pot (preferably a enameled cast iron dutch oven) combine the chicken stock, 1 can of enchilada sauce, onion, garlic and cilantro. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.

Gently add the pork and marinade to the simmering liquid. Cover and bring back to a light simmer. Reduce heat to a medium-low and let simmer until pork is fork tender about 3 hours.

Heat your oven to broil. Using a spider or a slotted spoon remove pork and place in a aluminum foil pan. Break up larger pieces. Drizzle with the other can of enchilada sauce. Place under broiler about six inches from flame. Allow it to crisp and brown slightly, about 5 minutes. Serve with your favorite salsa, onions, fresh cilantro and a lime wedge.

I challenge you to make those recipes who have "Pinned" or DIY, Art, Garden projects, anything you pinned that you want to try.

Until Next Time,

Pam

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Thursday, April 12, 2012

Yesterday it rained and I couldn't have been any more happy. I have some wildflower seeds like would like to get planted. This morning when I woke up there was 3 inches of snow on the ground. I knew that it would melt fast but we also have another storm ready to hit us tomorrow. My poor daffodils didn't know what hit them.

At least this year we are getting a real spring with a little snow mixed in to keep us on our toes. I opened the refrigerator and looked right a the Sarabeth's Jam that my dear friend Jenny sent me. Hmm, coffee sounded good so I decided to make Jam Bars with Sarabeth's Plum Cherry Jam.

Jam Bars

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup butter, cut into small cubes

2 eggs

1 tablespoon cream

1/2 cup of your favorite jam

4 tablespoons melted butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 cups flaked coconut

1 teaspoon vanilla (I substituted Almond Extract for the vanilla)

1. In a bowl add flour, baking powder and butter. Either cut in with a pastry blender or use a hand mixer to blend the butter into the flour mixture until the consistency of cornmeal.

2. Stir in 1 egg and cream, mix until a soft dough is formed.

3. Spread into a ungreased 8 or 9 inch square pan (you can add parchment paper to the bottom of the pan to make it easier to remove from pan) Pressing with fingers to cover bottom with an even layer of dough.

4. Spread jam over the dough evenly.

5. Stir together the remaining egg, butter, sugar, coconut and vanilla. Spread on top of the jam.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is lightly browned. Cool completely, cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch squares.